The District of Columbia is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit that attempts to block the marriage equality bill Mayor Adrian Fenty signed into law last Friday, the Associated Press reports.

The plaintiffs, led by Bishop Harry Jackson, a local minister are hoping to get an initiative on the ballot to ban marriage equality and are now suing after the Board of Elections and Ethics turned them down. City lawyers say the initiative would violate the city’s Human Rights Act because it seeks to deny benefits on the basis of sexual orientation.

The marriage bill is currently awaiting congressional review, which it is expected to pass.